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Departments of Excellence
The Departments of Excellence represent an innovative intervention with strong financial support, provided for by law 232 of 2016 (2017 budget law). The intervention has the objective of identifying and financing, every five years and within the 14 CUN areas, the best 180 Departments of state universities. These are Departments that stand out for the quality of the research produced and for the quality of the development project, to which an annual budget of 271 million euros is allocated.
Stages of selection. The initiative of the Departments of Excellence is duly described in article 1, paragraphs from 314 to 337 of Law 232 of 11 December 2016. The fundamental stages of this process envisage that:
1. on the basis of the Standardized Departmental Performance Indicator (ISPD), defined by ANVUR at the request of MIUR, a preliminary ranking of the best 350 Departments of state universities is drawn up;
2. within the framework of this ranking, each university may submit, for a maximum of 15 Departments, a five-year development project for the department, accompanied by a financial programme;
3. the financial program includes personnel recruitment, personnel rewards, research infrastructures and highly qualified educational and scientific activities;
4. the project is submitted to the evaluation of a Commission of seven members, appointed by decree of the Minister, of which two chosen by the Minister (including the President), one indicated by the President of the Council of Ministers, four designated by the Minister, in the within two shortlists of three members each indicated respectively by ANVUR and the National Committee of Research Supervisors (CNGR);
5. the Commission, by combining the ISPD score (maximum 70 points) and the project evaluation (maximum score 30 points), draws up a final ranking of the 180 Departments of excellence, also taking into account the maximum number of financeable departments for each of the 14 CUN areas (established by the Minister himself with the Commission appointment decree).
Financing beneficiaries
The 180 Departments selected will be able to count, in relation to the size quintile in which they are located, on a variable financial envelope between 1.620 million euros per year and 1.080 million euros per year for five years. The Departments of the CUN areas from 1 to 9 will also be assigned a budget of 250,000 euros per year linked to research infrastructures. The achievement of the objectives set by the departmental project and the correct use of the assigned budget will be subject to final evaluation.
For all the detailed information, visit the website of the Ministry of University and Research
